On August 8, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed a new law, “On the principles of language politics,” that
allows cities and regions to pass legislation that would give Russian
(or any other minority tongue) the status of an official language if 10
percent or more of the population of that region speaks it as a native
tongue.
Ukrainian vs. Russian Language
Brookings: What Ukraine’s new language law means for national unity
Dyakuyu or Spasibo? The controversy over whether Russian should be recognized as an official language of Ukraine is so heated that it has compelled Ukrainian politicians to tear each other’s clothes, flip parliamentarians over bannisters, and recently provoked the speaker of parliament to tender his resignation.
